This song was originally released as a 'Holiday' single several years ago, to coincide with a local party of the same name I threw annually in Seattle.
The explicit theme in both was that I am a secular Jew, and as such I want to throw a Chanukah Party like most people throw Christmas parties i.e. I'm really just interested in community, food, music, and comedy, not religious implications. I never had a Bar Mitzvah. I'm not part of a tight-knit, specifically Jewish community. I never went on a Birthright trip.
...and maybe that is why I have no love for or belief in the state of Israel.
Are you uncomfortable? Strap in, cuz it's gonna get worse. To cut to the point that seems obvious to me and some other folks (but is the opposite of that for many): Israel is committing a genocide against Palestinian people, killing over 30,000 Palestinians (still counting), and leveling all of Gaza in the process. These are facts that Israel and supporters don't even deny, but rather try and justify, as if there could ever be a justification. Please read a book, y'all. Google "The Nakba". The Balfour Declaration. Edward Said and Ilan Pappe. There's nothing Isn'treal has to try harder to destroy than truth.
Is retro-actively slapping "Free Palestine" on the end of this song title hollow and performative? I wouldn't put it past me. But every Palestinian voice I have listened to has asked that we do ANYTHING to amplify what is happening, because there are still many people who are literally trying to pretend it is not. There are people who not only cannot and will not say the word "Palestine", but they want to stop others--legally or otherwise--from saying it, too. And all the gentiles in our government call me, a Jew, 'antisemitic' for saying this. Wotta world.
And there's honestly a level of self-interest, too. As director Jonathan Glazer said in his Oscar speech, 'being Jewish' has been hijacked, and if THIS is what it means to be Jewish, I refute it. If I DON"T put "Free Palestine" at the end of my song title, you probably ASSUME that I am a Jew who--like too many others--believes 'Judaism' is the same as 'Zionism' is the same as 'Israel'. No. Fuck that.
Free Palestine. From The River to the Sea.
* If yer gonna send hate mail, I get it. Like I don't GET IT get it, but I certainly know it's possible. Just wanna say before you do that: again, read that history! and maybe just don't send it? Maybe just enjoy the music and we all move on with our lives?
This Calgary group makes goth-y post-punk attired in the brightly colorful arrangements of bleep-boop synthesized psychedelia. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 3, 2024
Frankie Rose returns with a shimmery collection of synth-pop songs warmed by her gorgeous voice and undeniable talent for melody. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 7, 2017
